7/15/2010 @ 3:55PM

Old Spice Mixes Social Media And Web Ads

Procter & Gamble and ad agency Wieden + Kennedy found a clever way to make another big splash with its Old Spice Red Zone Body Wash “Smell Like a Man, Man” campaign this week by creating Web videos in response to comments and questions from fans on social media sites.

Working with buff-bodied pitchman Isaiah Mustafa, Wieden + Kennedy shot more than 150 videos over three days. The videos include responses to celebrities and other social media influencers who asked Mustafa questions via Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites. They reside on the YouTube channel for Old Spice. These videos, along with other TV ads that also appear online, have racked up more than 20 million views on Google’s YouTube.

Iain Tait, global interactive executive creative director at Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore., says the viral nature of the original commercials as well as the unique character that Mustafa, “an incredible property,” portrays led to the three-day Web video blitz. “He can talk about the product in all kinds of ways that are just genuinely kind of fun and interesting,” Tait says of Old Spice’s Internet ambassador.

The videos range from humorous to emotionally poignant, with one video involving a man asking Isaiah to propose marriage to his girlfriend on his behalf. She said yes.

It’s that type of emotional connection that Tait believes shows the power of social media. “I think we’re now starting to see how people influencing other people is hugely important,” he says.

And, perhaps, persuasive. Total sales for Old Spice body wash at supermarkets, drugstores and mass market retailers excluding Wal-Mart were up 7.9% in the 52-week period ending June 13, according to SymphonyIRI Group, a Chicago-based market research firm.

The flurry of recent videos was a clever way for P&G to milk Old Spice’s association with its popular pitchman before he pushes off for bigger TV projects.